Pay Claim 2013

The next UCU General meeting is taking place on Wednesday 26 March from 1.00pm – 2.30pm in room 27/2003. The main topic of the meeting will be the upcoming marking boycott and we shall be joined by Terry Hoad, UCU HE committee member. We would encourage you to come along and share your views with us.

Earlier today you may have seen a statement issued by the University regarding recent negotiations on the Living Wage at the University of Southampton.

We at UCU, UNISON and Unite wish to make clear that we in no way endorse this statement, and further, we believe that this statement thoroughly misrepresents the facts. The issue of the Living Wage was first brought to the University’s attention at the Joint Negotiating Committee on 18 October 2013, following an initial FOI request sent by Southampton Living Wage Campaign on 13 August 2013. A paper was presented on this issue at the JNC which was fully endorsed by all three unions.

At this initial JNC discussion the University responded that they would re-evaluate their position on the Living Wage only after the resolution of the 2013/2014 pay claim. In the months since, all three unions have consistently and visibly campaigned on the Living Wage and fair pay for the lowest-paid University staff, and it is only after these months of campaigning that the University has put forward this Living Wage supplement.

Throughout this dispute, all three union branches at this University have continued to negotiate on local issues, and at no point have we ceased cooperation due to the current national situation. The University, in contrast, has repeatedly refused to negotiate formally on local concerns for the duration of the dispute, and has told us that they have no plans to strive to be a true Living Wage Employer.

The current statement on SUSSED does not acknowledge the contribution of unions and their members at this University in bringing this issue to the fore, nor does it accept responsibility for the University’s own refusals to engage on this and other issues for the duration of the current pay dispute.

On Thursday 6 February 2014, Southampton UCU, UNISON and Unite members joined colleagues across the UK in taking strike action for fair pay in UK higher education. EIS in Scotland also participated in this joint industrial action.

Southampton University staff braved the monsoon-like weather to stand on picket lines throughout Highfield and Avenue campuses and disseminate flyers informing students and passersby about the current pay dispute. Members also solicited signatures on a petition which is drawing attention to the issue of skyrocketing senior management pay in universities and the growing wage inequality in the sector generally.

At 11AM members gathered outside Building 37, the home of University management. Malcolm Ace (Chief Operating Officer), Professor Adam Wheeler (Provost), and Janice Donaldson (Director of HR) come out to talk with strikers about the pay issue and listen to their concerns. Afterward there was a brief rally before strikers were urged to make their way home, dry out and warm up!

Thanks to all who came out to join us despite the weather. UCU will be taking further strike action for two hours on Monday from 9-11AM; please come and show your support.

Firstly a big thank you to all of you who supported the second 2-hour walk-out on Tuesday afternoon. It was a great day of action with around 50 members occupying the Arlott Bar for a teach-in. Members joined in lively discussions on various important issues in higher education, including recruitment and retention at the University and concerns for the future of HE, and we rounded the strike off with a tribute to folk singer and activist Pete Seegar with a rendition of “Union Maid”. Many of you who weren’t able to attend the teach-in withdrew your labour by cancelling classes and meetings and just absenting yourselves from your workplaces – we would ask that you help us show what impact the action is having by completing this very short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ucustrike28thJanuary2014

A reminder that the next 2-hour walk-out is planned for Monday 10 February from 9.00 – 11.00 am. Further details on this to follow.

—————————-

Secondly you will all be aware of the next full day of strike action planned for Thursday 6 February. This involves all three campus trade unions – UCU, UNISON and Unite – as well as the Scottish union EIS. We are currently planning our joint local strategy and will be meeting with sister unions later this week. Once we have firm plans in place we will send these out to you. In the meantime we would ask you to:

Publicise the Pay Campaign as widely as possible within your department/academic unit by printing out and displaying the attached posters/leaflets. These are intended to get students and non-members thinking about the action, so the more people that see these, the better.

We are aware that University management are continuing to send out Faculty-wide emails asking that “union members who intend to take strike action inform their line manager by email or writing as soon as possible”. We would reiterate that you do NOT have to alert your line manager about your decision to take strike action in advance. When asked afterwards, however, you MUST answer truthfully. See UCU strike FAQs here: http://fairpay.web.ucu.org.uk/strike-questions/

Southampton UCU members participated in the first of three two-hour strikes in support of fair pay in higher education. We saw strong turnout and media interest, with stories appearing in the Daily Echo, BBC South Today, and the Morning Star, along with local websites like portswood.info and others.

Members picketed Building 37, the home of University senior management, to express our discontent at the increasing wage gap between top earners at the University and academic staff. Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam spoke to strikers about the pay issue, and members challenged him very robustly on issues ranging from zero-hours contracts and the living wage campaign, to the broader national issue of the 2013 pay claim.

The next two-hour strike will take place from 2-4PM on 28 January, with another to follow on 10 February. A day of joint union strike action on 6 February will incorporate all three on-campus trade unions (UCU, UNISON and Unite).

The University quietly announced yesterday that Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam has accepted a £17,000 pay rise, taking his salary up to £294,000. He has also had £39,000 paid into his pension pot by the University.

Following the strike action, the Vice-Chancellor told us that there was no chance of any movement on the 1% pay offer, as the University is not in a sustainable financial position. As we can see from this 6% pay rise, and the jump from 64 people on £100k+ in 2011 to 299 people in 2012, there is certainly money around — but apparently only for those on the top of the scale.

Meanwhile, staff are expected to cope with yet another real-terms pay cut, 140 staff at the university earn less than the living wage, and 198 of our lecturers are on zero-hours contracts. For our many colleagues who earn less than £17,000 in an entire year, seeing the Vice-Chancellor accepting this pay rise is simply insulting.

Our union’s demands are reasonable and proportionate — as outlined in the initial pay claim, we want our pay to go up in line with prices, action to address the gender pay gap, progress on disability leave and living wages on campus. Doing these things would make our universities more supportive and equitable places to work. We suggest that if the University can afford to pay the VC twice the salary of the Prime Minister, it can afford to pay a decent wage to the staff that actually keep the university running every day.

Your support so far has been brilliant, with over 200 of us at the rally on the 3rd, and many more taking part in the strike. It’s vital that we continue to work together, and with our colleagues in UNISON and Unite to demand fair pay on campus.

If you think pay rises shouldn’t just be for Don Nutbeam, then please do the following:

Email the Southampton UCU office letting us know why you think this is unacceptable

Speak to your colleagues, inform them of this and encourage them to join the union if they haven’t already done so

Email University senior management and ask them to justify this pay increase, when they are telling staff they can’t afford fair pay on campus.

Yesterday’s strike action was a rousing success! We had great support on the picket lines, covering all the most important and visible locations both at Highfield and Avenue Campuses, and our colleagues at UNISON and Unite greatly increased our visibility and impact.

At Highfield, the campus was extremely quiet, with very few students or staff coming in; notably, the car parks had many empty spaces and the bus interchange was largely empty. At Avenue, the entire campus was largely vacant, and all entrances were covered by pickets. At both campuses we distributed leaflets about the pay campaign and issues affecting members of staff across the whole University community, and we also distributed our own take on Vice-Chancellor Nutbeam’s Personal Performance and Development Review. We had supportive responses from many passers-by, both students and staff, and many signatures were added to our petition for fair pay in higher education.

Barry Lovejoy, Head of Regional Organisations and Nations for UCU, came to speak to attendees about the pay issue, along with regional officials from UNISON and Unite, and colleagues from both Southampton Solent and Winchester University. We also had significant press interest, with three separate camera crews filming the rally, and interviewers from various local and national press outlets circulating throughout the day.

All in all we were very pleased with the level of support and activity on the day. To all of you who supported our action, THANK YOU!

To keep the pressure on our employers, UCU is gathering information nationwide about activities which were canceled due to the strike action. With that in mind, please let us know how YOU supported the action – cancelling lectures or seminars, avoiding meetings or other commitments on the day, joining the picket lines, etc. We will take this information and send it to the national campaigns team to help counter the claims from UCEA that this day of action was not well-supported!

Also, please remember that we are still working to contract in support of the pay campaign. Please take a look at the very detailed guidance on the main UCU website here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/workingtocontract

We will keep in touch with you about future developments on the fair pay campaign, including updates on related issues both local and national.

During the strike action yesterday some of our members put together a rousing remix of The Twelve Days of Christmas which brings out some of the issues that concern us here in Southampton. The lyrics are below, so next time you need a bit of extra Christmas spirit, do gather some voices together and give it a try!

Christmas Strike Song

On the first day of Christmas my VC gave to me, a one per-cent pa–ay rise

On the 2nd day of Christmas my VC gave to me, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 3rd day of Christmas my VC gave to me, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 4th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 5th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, fiiiivvvve years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 6th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 7th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, low pay for women, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 8th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, long working hours, low pay for women, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 9th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, Starbucks’ in the staff club, long working hours, low pay for women, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 10th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, a two tier pension, Starbucks’ in the staff club, long working hours, low pay for women, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 11th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, rising cost of living, two tier pension, Starbucks’ in the staff club, long working hours, low pay for women, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise,

On the 12th day of Christmas my VC gave to me, lots more students, rising cost of living, two tier pension, Starbucks’ in the staff club, long working hours, low pay for women, zero hours contracts, five years of Don, four years of REF, Three angry unions, Two days of action, and a one per-cent pay rise!